A Gathering in the Park
by butterfly10
Summary: What could make Ranma appreciate an idea of Principal Kuno? A R/A romantic moment.


Hi everybody. I felt inspired today and had this one drifting in my mind for some time. So I decided to let it out. Oh, and don't worry, I'll be working on my other two stories, too. Besides this is mostly a one-shot. Hope you like it!

A little warning: the characters might seem OOC to you but I think the story explains itself, so bear with me. Thanks again.

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A gathering in the park

Who had thought of it? Probably the dumbest idea of the whole year. Principal Kuno must really be losing what little sanity he had left.

Wait.

Did I really think the words _Kuno_ and _sanity_ **in the same sentence**? What's wrong with me, man?

I slap a palm to my forehead to check my temperature. Not just because of that impossible thought (I mean, _sanity_ doesn't apply to **any** of the Kunos – just the thought of the lot makes me shudder), but rather because of this whole day and me going along with it. The things I do for that… 

Oops.

I must be out of my mind, honestly. 

It could be yesterday's dinner, since Akane helped Kasumi again. It seemed ok at the time, I mean, I know it's Akane we're talking about… though how she manages to turn boiling water to nuclear waste I'll never understand… but usually she manages to get the curry right… Maybe it just has a delayed effect…

Anyway, the dumb thing here is the fact that it's a Saturday afternoon – a time I should be sparring with pops or Ryoga or whoever comes first – and I'm here, in this park, with the rest of the Furinkan students and teachers and even Principal Kuno himself, and **a lot** of water everywhere and the stupid birds chirping like crazy and the sun shining like it wants to melt the trees down along with the lot of us hiding under them. And it's obligatory.

I hate that word. The dumbest word in the world. One of them, at least.

Like being in class without the desks and the blackboard and the chalk. And I'm supposed to have fun? Yeah, right. All the teachers are patrolling around, staring at me, waiting for an excuse to call Hinako Sensei to drain me once again… Like all the fights were my fault. Like I actually **enjoy** Kuno's stupid challenges or Ryoga's trademark line "Ranma, prepare to die"… I heard they sell T-shirts with that one. Nabiki would be my guess…

Why am I still here? I could just disappear and go have some real fun somewhere…

Why am I here, then?

I turn my head slightly to the left, trying hard not to make Hiroshi and Daisuke notice I've stopped listening ages ago.

There's the reason I'm still here. Under that tall three, among four or five other girls, talking quietly to her friends. She's smiling. A lot. 

I wonder why she never smiles when she's around me. Well, almost never.

I guess i don't give her many reasons to smile. All the fighting, the bickering, the insults, the name-calling, and then all the other fiancées, and Ryoga and Mousse and…

Nope, not much to laugh about.

Which is why I'll never understand why she lo… uhmmm… I mean **likes** me… at all.

You thought I didn't know?

Come on, give me some credit here. I'm not a genius but I'm not Kuno either. I can take a hint.

Ok, it takes more than one hint, but still.

Everybody knows she lo… you know. Ukyo figured it out the first day she came here (yeah, yeah, she was way smarter then me on that one…now stop gloating!). She told me herself, a while ago. That's why she tried her best to impress me by acting all cute and cooking okonomiyaki for me. Not that I minded – a free meal is something a Saotome never refuses. 

Lately, though, she kind of decided to let us be. It happened after she helped Shampoo and the others to wreck our wedding. I got so mad at her I'd have punched her out of town gladly. But she's a girl. And a friend. So we talked and I guess she understood that I… kind of… l… liked Akane, too. 

Now she's somewhere in Okinawa, with the ever present kunoichi as her waitress.

And I'm still here it this dumb park staring at my uncute, unsexy, macho chick of a fiancé like a lost puppy.

And Hiroshi and Daisuke have noticed.

"What, lover boy, miss her already?" Daisuke teases.

"Heh, I can see why you do…" Hiroshi added with a hentai grin. Which earned him a light slap on his back. Light to my standards anyway. Ryoga's maybe, too.

He just started coughing, his eyes looking like they'll fly off his head any moment. After some time he managed to say: "Sorry, man, you know what I meant…"

"Yeah, I do, and don't," I calmly said looking at him under half-closed eyelids. He got the message.

Everybody knows, as I was saying. Shampoo is getting ready to go back to China. Not that she's too happy about it, but Cologne decided it was enough after I literally erased the Nekohanten with a blast in my anger for the wrecked wedding. No-one was inside and nobody got hurt. But Cologne finally got the message. So did Mousse. He's a good friend now.

Even Ryoga… Nah, forget that. He'll never be over it. I've got so used to his almost weekly challenges that I sort of look forward to them. At least I get a good workout every now and than. With someone I'm not afraid of breaking.

He's quit the P-chan stuff though. I don't really know why. Maybe something Akane said. Or maybe he's just got tired of being punched in his sleep. That uncute tomboy must have hit him one too many times. She sure is strong like a gorilla… And built like one too…

Who am I kidding? 

I don't even believe myself when I say that any more. Maybe that's why I don't say it out loud that often these days. I just stare at her. I could stare at her for hours and never get bored. I'd trade staring at her for training any day. 

Did I really think that?

Man, I can't believe myself. I was raised to be a martial artist. To train and become the best. Training used to be my whole life. Nothing was more important than the Art. Now… Now I use the past tense (hey, those grammar classes actually did have an impact on me!). Now I train, yes, but mostly to be able to protect her if the need arises. And since this need often arises, I train a hell of lot. If anything happened to her I'd just…

No, I don't want to go through Mt Phoenix again. Ever. 

So now I train her too. She's getting pretty good. Not as good as me, of course, but she could take Ukyo and Shampoo now. At the same time.

I feel the grin spreading over my face at the thought. And she chooses this exact moment to look up from her circle of friends and looks right into my eyes.

Neither of us looks away. It's like a spell. One that happens more often lately. But she surprises me by getting up and coming towards me. I can't almost breath. Did I call her **uncute**? **Unsexy**? With that short skirt floating around those… I called them **thick**? Who was I trying to fool besides myself?

Hiroshi and Daisuke have noticed her coming, I guess. I can see them back away quickly, afraid for their lives. Funny. Reminds me of Dr. Tofu's patients when Kasumi was about. Would my glasses be fogged up, too, if I was wearing them?

She's here, a picnic basket in her hands. How come I didn't notice the basket before?

"Hey, Ranma, you hungry?" she asks in her sweetest voice. She never used to share that particular tone with me. Which is probably the reason why I suddenly feel my insides go jelly. I'm simply not used to it, right? It's not that her effect on me is **that **strong, right?

"Huh?"

One of my choice phrases. One of the most intelligent ones at that.

She probably didn't expect much of an answer anyway. She sat down beside me placing the basket between us.

"Here, spread this," and she hands me a red and white checked cloth. I do as I'm told, still unable to say anything remotely coherent. 

All I can think of is the creamy colour of the skin on her bare arms. The tightness of the white T-shirt she's wearing. The shortness of her yellow skirt, that leaves almost all the length of her thighs to view. The sweetness of her voice while she's talking to me. 

Wait, she was saying something. And I didn't really get it.

"Ranma, are you listening to me?" she says with a Kasumi-like hint of a frown on her beautiful face. Yeah, I called her beautiful. Not cute. I never lied, see? Well, almost never. There was this once when I told her…

"Ranma!"

Her frown is slightly more threatening now. I finally seem to recover some coherence.

"Uhmmm, sorry, I was just…"

"Staring at me, I know," she says, still frowning. "Is there something funny on my face?"

She noticed… I guess she would have had to be blind and stupid not to. She isn't neither.

"Nah, not more than usually…" I mumble. Then I cringe. Old habits are hard to die. On both sides. So I get ready for the usual malleting.

Three… Two… One… Zero… Minus one…

What? No mallet? I look up to her with one eye only, the other one still shut in preparation. She's glaring at me…but not a full, all-out Ranma-you-jerk kind of glare. It's rather a I'll-let-it-pass-this-time kind of glare. With only-this-time in brackets.

Then she sighs and starts taking out what I supposed Kasumi had prepared for us.

"Let me help", I offer in an apologetic manner. My hand reaches for a box in the basket as hers goes for the same one. I practically grab her hand instead of the box. We both freeze. 

I almost forgot how soft her skin is. And the tingling sensation it gives my own hand every time we touch. 

I force myself to remain coherent for once. Squeezing her hand a little, I try to apologise properly.

"Look, I didn't mean to offend you when I said…" I couldn't finish, but this time it wasn't my fault. She interrupted me, putting her other hand on top of mine.

"It's ok, I know."

She smiles. The jelly inside me turns to liquid fire. Man, how can she do that with one single smile. I feel myself grinning and blushing too.

After a moment she lets go of my hand and continues taking out our food. We eat in companionable silence (where the hell did I learn that word?), me leaning against the tree trunk and her sitting on her heels.

This peaceful feeling. I guess I've never noticed it before. So unusual. So nice. I could get used to…

"Hey, Ranma, wanna play soccer with us?" Hiroshi yells from a safe distance, a swarm of other boys and a ball behind him.

…never mind.

"Go ahead", Akane says with a smile. She knows me too well. So I get up and join the rest of the gang. 

She knows I'll always be back for her now, she doesn't mind if I run off every now and then. As long as it's with the guys, not the girls, that is.

I guess she'll go back to her friends and join them in their little gossips or maybe she'll play volleyball or something. She's an independent chick who knows what she wants and how to get it. That's why I'm don't feel too guilty for leaving her there like that. We'll have time later. This darn "gathering in the park" is supposed to go on until dark. There's even going to be a concert of a band formed by students of Furinkan. Maybe this day won't be so bad after all.

Did I already mentioned this whole park idea sucked? I did? Well, it does. Why not choose a spot with a little less **water**? Especially **cold** water? 

Yeah, you guessed right. I fell into one of the streams. Someone threw the ball off the playground, just close to the stream, I went to fetch it, Kuno showed up along with his sister, I fought them off but after punting them to LEO I slipped on the bank of the stream and fell into it. And I went girl. Great.

On top of that, the two teams I was playing soccer with forgot everything about the game and _kindly_ rushed to help 'the poor Ranma in distress', trying to get a peep at my female body (I had taken my shirt off while playing)… All the players were trying to grope me and I thought I'd show them some respect this time, when a shirt fell on my head and I quickly wore it. Getting my head out I saw Akane walk away slowly. Was she really giggling? Nah… she couldn't possibly be…laughing at … me… could she? Yelling something threatening to the guys, I jumped away from the mob and ran.

Now where do you find some hot water in a park?

Nowhere.

Too bad this is not one of those times where some hot springs are conveniently located somewhere around me… Oh well, I guess I'm used to it anyway. My days can't stay calm. Even if they happen to start that way.

The sun is low on the horizon, it will be dark soon. No chance of finding a warm puddle any more. I'll have to stay in girl-mode till I get home. And I was hoping…

"Here, Kasumi packed this in case you needed it."

An angel with a thermos. 

A smiling angel with a thermos full of hot water.

Is this the heaven of the bearers of a Jusenkyo curse? 

"Ouch! Hot!" I scream in pain, feeling the transformation take place, awakening from my stupor. The power this girl has on me is just unnerving.

"Don't be such a baby, it can't be that hot", she teases.

I let it pass, just this time. And just because she brought the hot water. And just because she's smiling. And just because she says: "Come, the concert is starting soon."

I follow her like the lost puppy I am around her. 

By the time we get to the spot where the concert is taking place, everyone else is already there, all the best seats taken. In fact **all the seats** are taken. People are sitting on the grass, as close to the stage as they can get. Seems these guys are pretty popular.

Why is Akane leading me so far from the stage then?

"You don't like this group, do you?" I ask, curious.

"Sure I do, why?" she turns surprised.

"Why are we going so far from the stage then?" I continue while we reach a tree under which Akane stops.

"Oh, just thought it would be nice to listen to them from here", she says turning her gaze away from me. She could be blushing but I can't tell, it's too dark already. The lights of the stage barely reach us and we almost can't see each other's expressions. At least I can't see hers.

She sits down next to the tree and gestures me to join her. She pats a spot very close to herself but I choose to sit at a safer distance, wanting to keep my insides at least in jelly mode.

"Come closer", she says and I suddenly have problems breathing, until she goes on: "You can lean on the trunk too, it's much more comfortable."

Oh, that.

Ok. 

So I skip closer to her, almost touching her right side, and lean my back against the tree. I try to think of something to say, but my brain isn't co-operating much so… so I'm awfully glad to hear the concert is starting. At least now I don't need to say anything reasonable.

The guys are pretty good, really. The music is not too loud here and we are kind of alone. Everybody else is in front of us, at quite a distance. And even if they were closer, they'd be preoccupied with the music to notice us at all. Got how I love to be invisible sometimes!

After some time I feel Akane shiver slightly against my left leg and arm. 

"You cold?"

"Mhmm. A little", she murmurs.

"Want my shirt?" I offer. I don't have anything else to wear along, nor does she. The day had been so hot none of us thought of it.

"Nah, you'll catch a cold if you take it off," she refuses and shivers again.

"It's no problem", I say in my most manly voice and start undoing the clasps of my usual red Chinese shirt. Her hands stop mine.

"I said no, I don't want feel guilty about this and nurse you for a week", she protests. Man, she's stubborn. And she's also cold. Her hand on mine is like an ice cube.

The only option left then is…

"Come, sit over here", I say, making her stand up and move in front of me. I pull her down so that she sits between my legs, her back to my stomach.

"What..?" she starts protesting, trying to get up again.

"Either this or you get the shirt", I say mock-menacingly.

"Oh yeah?" she raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah", I repeat, holding her close to me, preventing her from getting up and warming her cold body at the same time.

She seems to start feeling the warmth because she suddenly stops protesting and slowly leans back, until she's fully resting on me. She crosses her arms in front of her, placing them on top of mine, which are still holding her. I think of removing my own hands for a second but she seems to sense it and tightens her grip.

Ok, Akane, as you wish. Not that I mind.

The scent of her shampoo in my nose, the softness of her hair against my neck and jaw, her warming body pressed to mine, I feel both relaxed and tensed up at the same time. I hear myself sighing with pleasure. And I hear her sigh, too. With pleasure? Don't know but I sure hope so.

The band is playing a soft ballad right now. I don't really go for those kind of songs, but this time, it feels just right. We both start rocking slowly to the left and to the right. She starts singing along in that sweet voice of hers. I can feel her chest filling up and letting the air back out slowly under my hands. My fingers have found a particular spot where her T-shit isn't tucked in her skirt any more and I can feel the soft skin of her belly. I move a finger along that particular spot very slowly. 

She shivers. Is she still cold? Or is she…?

She shifts her position slightly and as a consequence, a little more of her flesh is exposed to my fingers. Does she know what she's doing?

I guess she does. 

She's running her thumb over my forearm, pushing the sleeve up. It's time for me to shiver slightly.

The band is still playing some soft song, but I doubt Akane is really aware of it any more. Neither am I, for that matter. The only thing that I can think of is this girl in my arms, my fingers on her skin and her body pressed to mine. 

As I sink my face in her black hair I have my last coherent thought of the evening: I guess this 'gathering in the park' wasn't such a bad idea after all.

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So, what do you think? I'd really like to know. This is my first direct attempt at Ranma's personality so I'm not really sure I got it right. Oh, and some of the grammar sloppiness was intended since I'm portraying Ranma, but if you feel things sound too odd, please let me know. As I said many times, I'm not English and I do my best but I know some things must be a bit off… Oh, well, hope it didn't bother you too much.

One more thing: I thought of this story as a one-shot. I guess anyone can imagine where it leads. Now that it's done though, I kind of think I might add just another part to it. A limy/lemonish one. What do you say? 

Thanks for reading and for reviewing!


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